New species of Medicorophium Bousfield, M. longisetosum n. sp. from the western Mediterranean, coast of Spain

Abstract

The Mediterranean Amphipoda fauna has been widely studied and can be considered one of the best known in the world (Conradi & López-González 1999); however knowledge of the fauna is not uniform throughout the entire Mediterranean, being still fragmentary on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula (Jimeno & Turón 1995; Bellan-Santini & Ruffo 1998). Studying benthos communities along Comunidad Valenciana coast (East Spanish coast), a new species of the genus Medicorophium was found in areas characterised by medium-tofine sand community of Spisula subtruncata. Despite the fact that this community is commonly found in the shallow soft-bottom non-vegetated areas of the western Mediterranean Sea (Cardell et al. 1999), this species was not previously reported. A key to the species of Corophium, Apocorophium, Monocorophium and Medicorophium (tribe Corophiini) found on the Mediterranean coast of Spain is provided.